Music and MoviesShortly
after loading the discs into the changer, some friends came over
requesting to see “Star Wars: Episode 1 – The Phantom Menace” (20th
Century Fox Home Entertainment). I easily found the disc in
alphabetical order in the Entre’s OSD. While watching the video, I
noted that the image was slightly less sharp than my reference Pioneer
Elite DV-38A (all image settings at neutral or default positions). The
difference was not great but was noticeable in an A-B comparison. I
also took this opportunity to connect the DV-5900M’s component video
outputs directly into my processor instead of through the Entre’. I am
happy to say there was no signal degradation visible when going through
the Entre’. The infamous pod racer scene gave the Kenwood the
opportunity to show off its audio capabilities. While much of the audio
quality comes from the processor, the processor needs a good digital
signal to begin its work. In this scene, the spatial cues were all
properly located and the bass was deep and detailed. The explosions and
vibrations of the engines were detailed and never muddy.

Animation
films can be torture on a DVD player’s video processing, so I decided
to take a look at the newly released copy of “The Lion King” (Walt
Disney Home Entertainment). The traditionally animated animals provided
large areas of vibrant colors on the screen to examine. I noticed a
very slight amount of video noise not apparent in my reference player
when the Kenwood’s DNR control was in the neutral position. The
Kenwood’s interlaced playback was very good and the slight softness can
be sharpened up if desired by judicious use of the controls. (For
information on progressive playback, please see Bryan Southard’s review
of the DV-5700.)

Moving
on to audio, I listened to both DTS-encoded CDs and DVD-Audio discs.
DVD-Audio discs are where the player gets a workout, utilizing the
player’s internal DACs rather than merely outputting the digital signal
to be dealt with by the processor. I played Queen’s A Night at the
Opera (DVD-A, DTS). The track opens with an accurately rendered guitar
in the front that leads into vocals and a full band. The chorus on “The
Prophet’s Song” fades in and out between channels, with smooth
transitions indicating consistent decoding of the different channels.
The highs on this track can sound grating on entry-level machines, but
were smooth and open on the Kenwood.

I
also played an old favorite of mine, Missy Elliot’s “So Addictive”
DVD-Audio disc (Warner/Elektra). The track “Get Ur Freak On” remains
one of my favorites and features a powerful and deep bass line. The
opening seconds feature a chanting voice that circulates around all the
channels. The channel-to-channel consistency confirmed my earlier
listening observations that the Kenwood was able to remain consistent
from channel to channel, despite the use of different DACs (24/192 for
the front left and right, 24/96 for the remaining channels). I found
the Kenwood’s DACs to be very detailed and smooth, which definitely
helped in creating a sense of envelopment with multi-channel music.
With this disc, I again found that the high end was extended and free
of harshness or apparent grain. The bass lines on this track are as
demanding as they are prolific. The Kenwood’s bass reproduction was
extremely deep and full, with great resolving power that was only
pushed at the very bottom end. This made the bass sound more full and
powerful, with a slight reduction of clarity at the extreme bottom end.
Overall, this player combo performed very well. It provides the
flexibility and organization that we all desire, along with the sound
and video quality that would make it a solid foundation for any
high-quality AV entertainment system.